You Are the Best Thing
by icantbestill29
Summary: Sometimes what you were looking for was there all along. Title taken from the Ray Lamontagne song. Puckleberry.


If there was one thing Rachel Berry was certain of, it was the fact that the upcoming summer was sure to be the longest of her life. It had been a little over month since Finn had broken their engagement off for "her own good" and she was finished with the piteous looks, offers of constant company and misguided (though well intended) attempts to take her mind off what had happened. Even Rachel's fathers, who could barely disguise their heavy sighs of relief when Finn made his decision, tried to ease her obvious pain with Broadway show tickets and her favorite vegan carrot cake cupcakes. What nobody could understand was, the last thing Rachel wanted was to be around people. She did not want to go shopping with Kurt. She did not want to demerit the entire male species with Santana. She did not want to watch Dream Girls or West Side Story with Mercedes and Tina. She did not want to talk about her feelings over coffee with Blaine. What she wanted, more than anything was to be left alone. She needed so badly to process what had happened and why and there was no way she could do that with her friends and her dad's following her around like she was on suicide watch.

It was on one such summer night that Rachel realized that she had gotten her wish. The phone stopped ringing for her and her text message inbox was empty. The IM's and emails had ceased. She had known that this time would come and she expected a small part of her, the part that had always craved attention would be a little sad, but all she really felt was a huge sense of relief. She could finally grieve in her own way. Home alone, she retreated to the backyard, put on her iPod and closed her eyes. As Ray Lamountane's husky voice sank over her, she finally allowed tears to spill over and released a single deep ragged breath, one that felt as though she had been holding it in forever.

"Hey Rach." Startled at the sudden intrusion, Rachel's eyes flew open and she plucked her head phones out of her ears. When she saw who it was, she sighed.

"What are you doing here, Noah?" Noah "Puck" Puckerman was the last person she had expected to see standing in her backyard. He had been unusually quiet in the weeks following Finn's dramatic announcement. He had not called or emailed or texted or shown up unexpectedly like everyone else had. Even Mr. Shue had attempted an awkward email to find out how Rachel was doing to which she had replied with a perfunctory, "Fine."

Puck, however, had done nothing of the kind. She had wondered if in part he was relieved that his best friend had finally come to his senses and narrowly escaped making a terrible mistake. Still, watching him standing in front of her, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, brown eyes warm and concerned, she thought that perhaps, he understood that she wished to be by herself. He always seemed to understand what she needed, usually without her having to say anything. _It's rather unsettling_, Rachel thought, sniffling.

"I was in the neighborhood so I just thought I'd stop by," He shrugged casually, causing her to roll her eyes. "Fucking beautiful out tonight, huh?"

"You're always so poetic, Noah." Rachel replied dryly. She gestured to the chaise next to her and wiped her eyes, grateful that he made no mention of her tears.  
"That's what you love about me, babe."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the sunset. "You came over to check up on me." Rachel cut in, toying with a frayed edge of her cardigan. "Admit it."

"No, I came over here because you need me."

Rachel choked back a humorless laugh. "Noah, clearly you do not live in reality. I've been a self proclaimed recluse for a month now. Our friends have just now realized that I don't want to talk about Finn or anything else. I want nothing more than to be left alone. In another month and a half, I will go to New York and try to forget about everything remotely associated with Lima, OK? I most certainly do not need you, of all people."

Hurt flickered briefly over his expression and she shook her head. "I didn't mean it that way, forgive me." She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. "It's just that I'm so _tired_ of people feeling sorry for me. I feel so many different emotions. I'm angry and I'm sad...I need to figure it all out for myself. I know everyone is just trying to help." Horrified by her sudden outburst, she swiped frantically at her tears as they fell.

In one swift motion, Noah moved to sit with her. He didn't say a word but she found herself hugging him, her tears wetting his t-shirt. He held her silently, stoking her hair, and finally, she allowed herself to give in to her grief.

As she clutched him tightly, Rachel felt him wrap his strong arms around her. She felt safe, as though nothing or nobody could touch her. Finn's embrace was entirely different. He clung to_ her_ urgently, as though she was going to fly away at any given moment. _How's that for irony_, she thought wryly, finally breaking from the hug and attempting to pull herself together.

"I must look like a mess," She murmured, her cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

"You look hot." Puck said gently. "You always do." His flirtation felt natural and Rachel was thankful that someone wasn't treating her as if she were made of glass.

"Do you know that you're the first person since this whole mess who's treated me like I'm normal old Rachel and not someone they have to constantly tip-toe around?"

He laughed. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call you normal, Rach. No offense."

She felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and she smacked his arm.

"There's my Rachel," Puck cracked."Seriously though...I know you don't think you need anyone and you wanna go around and be tough. I know all about that...I used to think I didn't need anyone either. And I wanted to give you space to deal with what you had to deal with. But I came here tonight to let you know I'm here. If you need me. We can talk, we can not talk, we can do shit, we can just sit here. It doesn't matter. I'm not gonna try to make you feel better or try to make you forget about how fucked up things are. But I'm here. I just wanted you to know." He stood to go.

"Noah, wait." The pressing need to be alone no longer seemed so important. "Thank you. That means...I mean..."She paused, trying to get the words right. "I have to warn you, you may come to regret that offer. I'm not the easiest person to be around right now."

"I'll take my chances." And with that, he sank back down into the chair next to Rachel's, where they sat in silence, watching the sun sink deeper into the horizon until there was nothing but darkness.


End file.
